Military Aviation News Archive
03/26/2014
Ukraine's military personnel may leave the Crimean Peninsula unhindered, but the Russian military has yet to decide if they will be permitted to take their weapons with them, the Kremlin said Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said over the weekend that less than 15 percent of the 18,000 Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea decided to leave the peninsula after it rejoined Russia last week.
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03/26/2014
The capabilities of Airbus Helicopters' rotorcraft to meet land- and sea-based mission requirements of Middle East military forces will be underscored in the company's presence at the Doha International Defence Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX) which opens today (25-27 March).
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03/25/2014
Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets are due to retire in 2020. They need to be replaced, but no fully operational F-35s will be available by that date. Stephen Harper has a decision to make: buy another model of fighter jet, or face a dangerous capability gap. He cannot expect our pilots to fly supersonic aircraft beyond their lifespan.
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03/25/2014
NATO’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has drawn a red line, but it is one that leaves Ukraine militarily isolated, fending for itself. If the West’s economic and diplomatic sanctions are to deter Moscow from further military aggression, they must be complemented by a robust defensive strategy to reinforce Ukraine’s armed forces.
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03/25/2014
he Republic of Korea has formally announced its decision to procure the Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) F-35 Lightning II aircraft for its F-X fighter acquisition program. “We are honored by and appreciate the trust and confidence the Republic of Korea has placed in the 5th Generation F-35 to meet its demanding security requirements.
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03/25/2014
Turkey told Syria that it was ready to act again in defense of its borders and warplanes after the shooting down of a warplane said to have flown into its territory. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said today that the incursion should not be repeated, as the military justified yesterday’s action by Turkish combat aircraft against a Syrian MiG-23 that had ignored four warnings and briefly penetrated 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) into Turkish airspace, according to a statement.
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03/25/2014
France and the Czech Republic have become the latest NATO countries to offer fighter aircraft protection to those alliance members concerned over the situation in Crimea and the continuing Russian build-up on Ukraine's eastern border.
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03/25/2014
In 2005, Lockheed Martin labeled the F-35, the stealthy new jet they were building for the Pentagon, as a “fifth-generation” fighter. Ironically, it was a term that they had borrowed from Russia to describe a different stealthy fighter, the F-22. But the term caught on. Some of Lockheed’s rivals tumbled into this rhetorical trap and tried to argue that “fourth-generation” was just as capable—whether it is true or not, making such a case is an uphill struggle.
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03/25/2014
The U.S. government's decision to deploy military aircraft and additional troops could be "the decisive game changer" in the hunt for fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony, whose notorious group, the Lord's Resistance Army, appears weaker than ever before amid growing defections and the loss of senior commanders, an expert said Monday.
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03/25/2014
All military units stationed in Crimea are now under the control of the Russian military, and remaining Ukrainian servicemen are departing the peninsula, the region’s first deputy prime minister, Rustam Temirgaliyev, said on Monday. As Crimea’s reunification process began last week, a total of 147 military units in the predominantly Russian-ethnic region have replaced Ukrainian flags with Russian ones and applied to join the Russian armed forces.
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03/25/2014
The volume of Russia’s arms exports this year has topped the $2 billion mark, with outstanding weapons orders standing at $47 billion, a senior government official said Monday. “As of today, Russia has supplied military products worth $2 billion to its foreign customers,” said Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.
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03/24/2014
A high-level Argentine military delegation visited Israel recently to finalize a purchase of Israeli fighter-jets. The Kfir has not been in operational use by the Israel Air Force for nearly 20 years and will be upgraded by Israel Aircraft Industries if the contract is signed. The deal is going ahead at a low point in Israeli-Argentine relations.
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03/24/2014
Even as Russia's annexation of Crimea is answered with an economic, rather than a military, response from the West, the crisis is provoking some uncomfortable reckoning on the part of NATO. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called it a “wake-up call” that should prompt both the U.S. and Europe to ratchet up their commitment to the transatlantic alliance.
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03/24/2014
The plane crash occurred during a routine flight on Friday, March 21. The pilot and navigator ejected safely. The accident will be investigated by a special commission. The 7th Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force of Ukraine is based near Starokonstantinov, it contains Su-24 and L-39 training aircraft of Czech production. No civilian casualties and destruction reported.
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03/24/2014
The same week that the US Air Force said it had figured out a way to get its counterparts in Taiwan new radars for its 146 F-16 fighter jets, sources at Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) are accusing US officials of lying to them and avoiding questions on the impact that the cancellation of the upgrades on the US side will have on Taiwan.
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03/24/2014
One in three of the RAF’s £60million Typhoon fighters are also grounded, according to the latest government figures. RAF sources claim that wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the crisis in Libya have all taken their toll on frontline aircraft, some of which have been on operations for almost 12 years.
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03/24/2014
A deepening crisis in Ukraine has sharpened the defense policy of NATO member states in Eastern Europe, with the Estonia prime minister calling for higher military spending and Poland seeking early orders for missile defense and drones. Warsaw and the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — have been among the most vocal following Russia’s military intervention in Crimea, while a European Union summit pledged on March 21 to sign political cooperation pacts with Georgia and Moldova.
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03/24/2014
The Russian military force on Ukraine's eastern border is 'very, very sizeable and very, very ready', according to Nato's top military commander. General Philip Breedlove said he was worried they could make a move for Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region. 'There is absolutely sufficient force postured on the eastern border of Ukraine to run to Transdniestria if the decision was made to do that and that is very worrisome,' said Nato's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
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03/24/2014
Electronic warfare (EW) experts at the Exelis Electronic Systems segment in Clifton, N.J., will provide the U.S. Navy with 42 sophisticated EW systems designed to protect Navy combat aircraft from incoming radar-guided missiles.
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03/24/2014
Australia is likely to push ahead with the acquisition of its first operational F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, according to a report by an independent defence think tank. In a report released on Monday, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says it makes most sense for the federal government to commit to spending between $8 billion and $10 billion on 58 of the fighters, which are expected to enter service in 2020.
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03/24/2014
Turkey, which backs the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, warned Damascus against testing its determination and pledged a tough response if Syrian warplanes violate its airspace again. It was the most serious incident since Turkish warplanes last September downed a Syrian helicopter that Ankara said was 2km inside its airspace.
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03/23/2014
As the world remains riveted on Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, Russian President Vladimir Putin is shifting gears to Latin America. As first outlined by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu last February, Putin now plans to keep the United States off-balance as Moscow sets up actual military bases and massive arms sales in the Latin American region.
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03/23/2014
The modern world that emerged from the end of the Cold War and the disastrous terrorist attacks of 9/11 has deceived the United States and her traditional allies into assuming that war between states was a thing of the past. As the world sees Russian advances in Eastern Europe and Chinese power plays in the Asia-Pacific region, U.S. partners such as the Philippines should use these watershed events as case studies for developing stronger defense policies.
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03/23/2014
Ukraine’s government has decided to set aside an additional 6.8 billion hryvnia (US $697 million) for defense spending to mobilize troops, modernize weapons and improve the operational capacities of the country’s armed forces, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said.
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03/23/2014
Bangor-based Denroy Plastics has secured a £1 million contract to supply more parts for the world's most advanced military combat aircraft. And to celebrate the deal the Eurofighter plane performed a fly-over at the Balloo road site yesterday before landing at RAF aldergrove.
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